EDGUY frontman Tobias Sammet's AVANTASIA project has just released a new single, "The Wicked Rule The Night". The song, which features a guest appearance by PRIMAL FEAR singer Ralf Scheepers, is taken from the ninth AVANTASIA album, "A Paranormal Evening With The Moonflower Society", due in the fall via Nuclear Blast. The disc will be the follow-up to "Moonglow", which came out in 2019.
An animated lyric video for "The Wicked Rule The Night", created by Costin Chioreanu, can be seen here.
Sammet comments: "I'm so happy with the upcoming album that you could put out any song as the first single. But somehow, after the last two years, I felt the need to go full steam ahead as soon as I'm let off the leash. And honestly, it's also cool to know that many would probably have expected a less extreme track to accompany AVANTASIA's re-entry into the earth's atmosphere. But AVANTASIA is not stylistically fixed — anything goes, commercial, epic, grotesque or full on the bell, doesn't matter: all that is part of AVANTASIA's very own world. We have found our own pigeonhole and different laws apply there. The fans of the first hour know that. And so I have the feeling that 'The Wicked Rule The Night' is unpredictable, exciting, fresh and new, despite my trademarks, as you know them partly from AVANTASIA or also EDGUY. Playing it safe is a lot of hogwash."
"Moonglow" hit number one on the album charts in Germany and charted in 17 countries in Europe, Asia and the Americas before AVANTASIA embarked on a ten-month tour of Europe, Asia, Australia, North and South America.
Since its beginnings in 1999, AVANTASIA's past releases have featured international stars such as Alice Cooper, Klaus Meine and Rudolf Schenker (SCORPIONS),Sharon Den Adel (WITHIN TEMPTATION),Bruce Kulick and Eric Singer (KISS),Eric Martin (MR. BIG),SAXON's Biff Byford, TWISTED SISTER frontman Dee Snider and many more.
In addition to Sammet and Scheepers, "The Wicked Rule The Night" features Sascha Paeth on guitar and Felix Bohnke on drums.
AVANTASIA will make a dozen or so festival appearances this summer, starting on June 24 at Spain's Rock Imperium.
In a 2019 interview with Spotlight Report, Sammet stated about his musical influences: "I'm really inspired by anything I listen to, but my main influence is in my DNA. I've been inspired by artists like DIO, RAINBOW and a lot by QUEEN. IRON MAIDEN, DEF LEPPARD, MEAT LOAF, a lot of Eighties rock. I also love world music and classical music. I'm not a connoisseur or anything; I just love how it sounds."